Chapter 24 Further Reading: Stablecoins: The Bridge Between Crypto and the Dollar

Foundational Papers and Reports

Sams, Robert. "A Note on Cryptocurrency Stabilisation: Seigniorage Shares" (2014). The original paper proposing the two-token algorithmic stablecoin model. Essential reading for understanding the theoretical framework that influenced Terra/Luna and other algorithmic designs. Available at: https://github.com/rmsams/stablecoins
Moin, Amani, Kevin Sekniqi, and Emin Gun Sirer. "SoK: A Classification Framework for Stablecoin Designs" (2019). An academic systematization of knowledge covering the major stablecoin architecture types, their mechanisms, and trade-offs. Published in the proceedings of Financial Cryptography 2020.
Klages-Mundt, Ariah, et al. "Stablecoins 2.0: Economic Foundations and Risk-based Models" (2020). An economic analysis of stablecoin stability, including formal models of deleveraging spirals in crypto-collateralized systems and confidence crises in algorithmic systems.

Liu, Jiageng, Igor Makarov, and Antoinette Schoar. "Anatomy of a Run: The Terra Luna Crash" (2023). NBER Working Paper. Academic forensic analysis of the Terra collapse using on-chain data. Identifies the concentrated selling that triggered the depeg and traces the contagion pathways.
Briola, Antonio, et al. "Anatomy of a Stablecoin's Failure: The Terra-Luna Case" (2023). Finance Research Letters. Quantitative analysis of the reflexive dynamics during the collapse, with mathematical modeling of the death spiral.

Griffin, John M., and Amin Shams. "Is Bitcoin Really Untethered?" (2020). Journal of Finance, 75(4), 1913-1964. The landmark paper arguing that Tether issuance was used to manipulate Bitcoin's price during the 2017 bull run. Peer-reviewed in one of the top finance journals.
New York Attorney General. "In the Matter of iFinex Inc., BFXNA Inc., and Tether Limited" (2021). The NYAG settlement order detailing findings about Tether's reserve management, the Bitfinex loan, and the Crypto Capital affair. Primary source for the USDT controversy narrative.

Baughman, Garth, et al. "Stablecoins: Regulatory Responses to Their Promise and Potential" (2023). Federal Reserve Working Paper. Includes analysis of the SVB-USDC depeg as a case study for banking system dependencies in stablecoin design.

European Parliament. Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) — Full Text (2023). The complete regulatory framework. Title III covers asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and Title IV covers electronic money tokens (EMTs / stablecoins). Available at EUR-Lex.
US House Financial Services Committee. "Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act" and related legislative drafts. The evolving US legislative proposals for stablecoin regulation. Track through congress.gov for current versions.
President's Working Group on Financial Markets. "Report on Stablecoins" (November 2021). The interagency report that recommended stablecoin legislation, including bank-like regulation for issuers. The document that set the US regulatory agenda.
Financial Stability Board. "High-level Recommendations for the Regulation, Supervision and Oversight of Global Stablecoin Arrangements" (2023). International regulatory guidance for stablecoins, reflecting the post-Terra/Luna consensus among global regulators.

MakerDAO Documentation. The complete technical documentation for the Maker Protocol, including Vault mechanics, liquidation processes, the Peg Stability Module, and governance. Available at: https://docs.makerdao.com
Circle USDC Documentation. Reserve reports, attestation reports, and technical specifications for USDC. Available at: https://www.circle.com/en/usdc
Tether Transparency Reports. Quarterly attestation reports showing reserve composition. Available at: https://tether.to/en/transparency
Liquity Protocol Documentation. Technical specification for LUSD, including the stability pool mechanism, redistribution, and recovery mode. Available at: https://docs.liquity.org

Zoltan Pozsar. "Money, Tokens, and Games" (2023). Global Macro Research, Credit Suisse. Pozsar's analysis of how stablecoins fit into the broader monetary system, treating them as a new form of "shadow money" alongside money market funds and repurchase agreements.
Nic Carter and Linda Jeng. "DeFi Protocol Risks: The Paradox of DeFi" in DeFi and the Future of Finance (2021). Wiley. Chapter on the systemic risks of DeFi dependencies, including stablecoin risks.

DefiLlama Stablecoins Dashboard. Real-time tracking of stablecoin market caps, peg deviations, and chain distribution. The best single source for stablecoin market data. Available at: https://defillama.com/stablecoins
Dune Analytics — Stablecoin Dashboards. Community-built on-chain analytics dashboards tracking stablecoin flows, Curve pool balances, MakerDAO Vault activity, and more. Available at: https://dune.com
Chainalysis Geography of Cryptocurrency Report (Annual). Includes data on stablecoin adoption by region, with particular focus on emerging market usage.
The Block Research — Stablecoin Section. Ongoing data coverage of stablecoin supply, redemptions, and market share. Available at: https://www.theblock.co/data

Bankless. "The Stablecoin Trilemma" (Episode 214). Deep discussion of the trade-offs between stability, decentralization, and capital efficiency across stablecoin designs.
Unchained with Laura Shin. "What Really Happened with Terra/Luna" (May 2022). Post-collapse interviews with researchers and participants.
Odd Lots (Bloomberg). "Why the Stablecoin Market Is About to Get Completely Upended" (2024). Matt Levine and Joe Weisenthal discuss stablecoin regulation and the competitive dynamics between USDT, USDC, and newcomers.

Selgin, George. "Synthetic Commodity Money" (2015). Journal of Financial Stability. Academic framework for understanding digital currencies that mimic commodity money properties — provides theoretical grounding for stablecoin design.
Gorton, Gary, and Jeffery Zhang. "Taming Wildcat Stablecoins" (2021). Yale Law Journal. Argues that stablecoins resemble 19th-century "wildcat banks" that issued their own banknotes — a historical analogy that illuminates the regulatory debate.

Chapter 21: DeFi Foundations — The DeFi ecosystem that depends on stablecoins
Chapter 22: Lending and Borrowing — How stablecoins function as collateral and borrowed assets
Chapter 25: Lending and Borrowing Protocols — Deep dive into Aave, Compound, and MakerDAO
Chapter 32: CBDCs — Central bank digital currencies as potential stablecoin competitors
Chapter 35: Regulation — The broader regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency